This is the tense moment a couple crossed a precarious hanging rope bridge - with a raging river just inches below. them.

Video shows the pair carefully treading on the wooden bridge in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, on August 11, with the structure bobbing up and down with each step.

Just inches below them, raging muddy torrents were gushing past following heavy rain from Tropical Storm Mulan which moved across China and Vietnam.

Onlooker Nuntawat said: 'They must be so brave to cross the bridge when the river below looked so scary. I was praying for them to reach the opposite side safely.'

The torrential weather - which battered China and is now downgraded to a tropical depression over Vietnam - caused severe flooding across six Thai provinces.

Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation officials said the tropical depression, augmented by a monsoon lying across Myanmar, northern Thailand and northern Laos, caused strong downpours from August 11 to 14.

Thousands of homes across the region were submerged as rescue teams battled to evacuate residents to higher ground, or strengthen flood defences with sandbags. Relief teams were also delivering food and fresh water to residents stranded by the water.

Sandbags were also being used to block the water from spilling into homes and shops while pumps had been brought ini to try and shift the water.

The country's Meteorological Department said Mulan had weakened to a low-pressure cell as it entered Yunnan province in China but the storm has caused widespread heavy rainfall in some of Thailand's northern and northeastern provinces.

Landslides and blocked roads have also been reported across the region as officials try to reach those affected and move them to safe centres.

Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines are in the middle of their tropical monsoon rainy season, which lasts until October or November.

Soaring temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius are often followed by powerful tropical storms with thunder, lightning, rain and flash floods.